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`Blue Wall' held in city despite NDP hopes in Regina—lewvan

ALEC SALLOUM -with files from Arthur White-crummey alsalloum@postmedia.com

Former Conservative Party of Canada leader and current MP for Regina— Qu'appelle Andrew Scheer cleaned up on Monday night with another dominant showing in his riding.

His resignation as leader and controversy over payments for his children's school tuition did little to dampen turnout for the MP.

THE RESULTS

Scheer was slightly down in per cent of the vote share from 2019 when he was running as leader, but only slightly. Two years ago he received 63.12 per cent of the vote; this year, he received 19,625 votes or 62.4 per cent of all ballots cast, according to Elections Canada.

There wasn't much of a showing in the polls for the other hopeful candidates. Most of the remaining votes went to NDP candidate Annaliese Bos with 6,453 ballots cast in her favour, accounting for 20.5 per cent of the total vote.

Liberal candidate Cecilia Melanson received 3,063 votes for 9.7 per cent of the vote. PPC candidate Andrew Yubeta received 1,651 votes, for 5.2 per cent, and Naomi Hunter of the Green Party of Canada received 663 votes for 2.1 per cent of all cast ballots.

On Tuesday Elections Canada reported that 31,455 of 55,401 registered electors, or 56.78 per cent of eligible voters, cast a ballot during the election. These numbers do not include electors who registered on election day or mailin ballots.

REACTION FROM CANDIDATES

On election night Scheer maintained that calling the election was an unpopular move and the Liberal

Party does little for people in the province, calling it an outright “vanity project.”

“I will always put the priorities of this province first and foremost, always fight against the attacks on Saskatchewan and Western Canada,” Scheer said.

For Hunter and the Green Party, the result carried a degree of frustration since this was, again, a result under the first-past-thepost electoral system. She said all 14 electoral districts going to the Conservatives is not representative of the province.

“What we see right now is not how Saskatchewan people actually

What we see right now is not how Saskatchewan people actually voted, it's not how everyone in Saskatchewan feels.

voted, it's not how everyone in Saskatchewan feels,” said Hunter.

But given how the system works, she felt people were pressured to vote for “viable” options instead of parties they may have been more closely aligned with.

“People would rather vote for the cardboard box with a red or a blue shirt over a living breathing person from another party.”

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2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-22T07:00:00.0000000Z

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